It’s no secret I’m obsessed with Fornasetti plates. Piero Fornasetti was an Italian painter, sculptor, interior decorator and engraver. He created more than 11,000 items, many featuring the face of a woman, operatic soprano Lina Cavalieri, as a motif. Fornasetti found her face in a 19th-century magazine. “What inspired me to create more than 500 variations on the face of a woman?” asks Italian designer, Piero Fornasetti of himself. “I don’t know,” he admits, “I began to make them and I never stopped.” The “Tema e Variazioni” (theme and variation) plate series based on Cavalieri’s face numbered more than 350.

Don’t these look great together? It’s easy to see why they could so easily be turned into patterns for wallpaper. It just goes to show if you have a good idea, or beautiful art or illustration, the applications for that art is limitless! Today the “Theme & Variation” plates have been turned into dinnerware, wallpapers, and printed on just about any object you can imagine.

Aren’t there great? Check out the wallpaper in use in these interiors below.

One day when I have a home of my own, I can’t wait to collect the plates and have a Fornasetti bathroom or kitchen! Stay turned as I continue to post about the magical world of Fornasetti. Get into it!

Recently I stumbled across the illustration of Andreas Samuelsson and quickly fell in love with the simple style and bright colors he uses in his work. His bio states, “Letters, stylized objects, symbols and details are important elements of Andreas Samuelsson’s creativity. He likens his way of working to a musician sampling audio clips. “I like to put the pieces together and build up pictures quite freely”, he explains. “The goal is to break down an image so that it becomes as pure as possible.” –Molly & Co. Awesome huh? Scroll below to see a few of my favorites. If you’d like to see every more, check out his entire portfolio site here. Get into it!

Continuing with my series of American-themed posts celebrating Memorial Day, today I’m sharing an “American Summer” collection/mood board of images I put together for a work project. One of my favorite parts of the design process is gathering inspiration. I love grouping seeming unrelated images and creating stories that speak to a theme or concept. This practice is used heavily in fashion when designers create mood boards for upcoming collections. I blogged about a few fashion week mood boards I found a while back. So get into this American Summer collection – and see more images on my Pinterest Board here. Happy Memorial Day!

The other day I gave an introduction to one of my favorite artists/illustrators Ruben Toledo and his work with Nordstrom. Today I’d like to share more of his work and a little more about the artist. The piece above (actually a beach towel) was created to celebrate opening a new Target store in NYC, and I’m lucky enough to own this beauty. Cute right? So a little more about the artist: Ruben Toledo was born in Havana, Cuba in 1961. Toledo is a painter, sculptor, illustrator, fashion chronicler and critic, and surrealist. He has designed mannequins, store windows, award statuettes, scarves, fabrics, dishes and book covers for Penguin Classics. He has painted murals, portraits, album covers and gallery walls. He has also created illustrations for the top fashion magazines from around the world including The New Yorker, Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Town & Country, Paper, Visionaire, Interview and The New York Times. Some of my favorite work from Toledo comes from the book The Little Black Book of Style by Project Runway’s Nina Garcia. The book is soooooo cute and illustrated beautifully by Toledo. Years ago in college I gave it as christmas gifts. So sit back, scroll, and get into more of Toledo’s work below.

Back in 2009 (the early early early days of my blog), I blogged about one of my favorite illustrators, Ruben Toledo. I’ve been enamored with Toledo’s work for years, so I thought it was about time I devoted a few posts to this brilliant artist. I was first exposed to Toledo’s work from the Nordstrom ads he illustrated for several years. I used to rip them out of magazines and collect them. There’s something about Toledo’s illustrative style that’s so playful and beautiful, and so uniquely his own. I can spot his fashion illustrations anywhere! I like this series of ads because they combine illustration and spaces, sort of like windows and store design, which I do now. I never saw this series in print but I’m so happy to have found it online and share it with you. In the next few days I’m going to share more of his work and take a look into the studio he shares with his wife, fashion designer Isabel Toledo.

A few weeks ago I discovered the work of LA-based designer and illustrator Geoff McFetridge. After design school, McFetridge art directed the Beastie Boys’ magazine Grand Royal before starting his own studio, Champion Graphics. Recently his work was featured on t-shirts and Jack Spade’s blog. What I really love Geoff’s work is how graphic and abstract it is. His paintings are simple and minimal in form, but there’s a great sense of design in each. He also has a great sense of color. But above all, you easily see his sense of humor and wit. Nothing I love more than a designer that doesn’t take himself too seriously. How refreshing! Weeks ago, a friend alerted me that Lonny Magazine featured a profile of Jonathen Adler & Simon Doonan’s Manhattan apartment in their September 2013 issue, and to my great surprise, guess who’s work Adler is displaying in his living room? Geoff McFetridge! Great choice!

Are the pants coming on or off? I love this one, currently my iphone wallpaper!

Today I’m super excited to share illustrated patterns by Na Kim and her delightfully illustrated resume (scroll down). How great is this buffalo x ping pong wallpaper pattern? I love this style of pattern making; taking individual illustrations and repositioning them to create a repeat pattern. And I like that she’s doing so in such a playful way. They’re totally random (or at least appear to be) but work together so well. I love the unexpected combinations! Wouldn’t this pattern, and the ones below, make really cool socks or something? I’m all about it.

Her original Buffalo Pong illustration (above).

Mallard-mallot Pattern, 2012 (above).

Whale Ballin’ 2012 (above). Aren’t these fun?

So I found Na Kim’s illustrated resume first (below), and patterns second, which reminded me of a subject I’ve touched on a few times, resume design. Some months ago, I blogged about what a bad idea “creative” resumes are, especially in the graphic design field. However, in this case I absolutely love Na Kim’s illustrated resume. It just makes sense. She’s a talented illustrator and has a unique typographic style of lettering. I’m not saying all designers (or typographers) should do this, but when it speaks to your skills, and you’re able to inject a sense of personality AND skill into it, then why not.

So if you’re liking what you see, check out Na Kim’s website and blog.
Get into it y’all!